A Few Guiding Principles

By Linda "Jopp" Goytia

A lot has been said about the human element taking a back seat in recent years to the drive to improve test scores. I submit that we can nurture and educate at the same time.

The problem with "what is tested is taught" goes beyond a tendency in some districts to neglect the fine and applied arts and is too often linked to funding. The process of nurturing our children and guiding them--just to learn how to "be" in the world involves so much more. They have to learn critical thinking and decision-making, how to form healthy relationships, how to formulate goals and values, how to balance work and play--so many things that cannot be quantified. This is a messy human endeavor and not one in which a pure business model can ever be the only standard.

But most of all, I honor the inclusive nature of public education. We want to "bring everyone to the party," and it is that vision that will lead us where we need to go. I see the concept of public education as inseparable from our past and future as a democracy. Only in public school (and perhaps the military) must we learn to respect and perhaps even understand others of different races, creeds and persuasions. It is where we learn to get along with each other because, like it or not, we will live side by side and we had better make it work. Rather than arguing about the vehicle, we should be working to make our public schools the envy of the world.